interesting facts about sub-saharan africa

Hi everyone! A friend here in Africa forwarded these to me today with the comment, "No wonder this continent is in need of some child survival...." I thought I'd share it with you here. Just reading the list through is a geography lesson...I had to go find Mauritius and the Seychelles on a map.

FYI, further down the list, there are little indicators that say (MDG #). MDG stands for Millennium Development Goal, goals set by the United Nations in 2000, to be achieved by 2015. For more info, please see: http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/

Here's the list:

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
Source: Africa Development Indicators (ADI) 2007

South Africa uses the most electric power per person (4,884.8kW/h); Ethiopia uses the least (32.7 kW/h).

Burundi has the highest proportion of women in its labor force (90.5% 2005); Sudan has the lowest (22.5%).

Niger has the highest proportion of men in its labor force (95.1%); Namibia has the lowest (62.7%).

In South Africa, the poorest 20 per cent have 3.5% of national consumption; in Ethiopia they have 9.1%. (MDG 1).

Thirty three percent of children who start first grade reaches grade five in Chad; in Mauritius 97% reach fifth grade. (MDG 2).

The lowest net primary enrolment ratio is found in Djibouti (33.3%); the highest is in Sao Tome and Principe (96.7 per cent). (MDG 2).

In Swaziland more than one in every three 15-49 year olds has contracted HIV (33.4%); the rate is six in every thousand in Mauritania.

Mauritius has the highest life expectancy (73 years); Botswana has the lowest (35 years).

In the last decade Rwanda and Uganda have made the greatest gains in live expectancy: 12 and 7 years respectively.

Conversely, life expectancy has decreased 21 years in Botswana, 17 years in Lesotho, and 16 years in Swaziland.

The Seychelles have the highest adult literacy rate (92%); Mali and Burkina Faso have the lowest (24%).

In Seychelles 92% of women are literate; the figure is 13% for Chad and 15% for Niger.

In Mauritius there are 22 children per primary school teacher; there are 72 in Ethiopia.

Mauritania has the highest gross enrolment rate in secondary education (88%); Namibia has the lowest (7%).

In Sierra Leone two women die for every 100 live births; in Mauritius 24 die per 100,000 live births. (MDG 5)

In Burundi, 56.8% of children under the age of 5 are short for their age; in Gambia it is 19.2%.

In South Africa, 2.5% of population are below the minimum dietary energy consumption; in Eritrea, 75% are below.

Nearly one child in two under the age of five is underweight in Burundi (45.1%); in Swaziland it is one in 10. (MDG 4)

In Ethiopia, 22% of the population has access to a safe source of water. In Mauritius, it is 100%. (MDG 7)

South Africa has 724.3 mobile phones per 1000 people; Ethiopia has the least with 5.8 per 1000 people.

In Chad, 9% of the population has access to improved sanitation facilities; in Mauritius 94% have such access.

In Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia and Niger 2 persons out of a thousand are Internet users; there are 249 in every thousand people in Seychelles, which also has 189 computers per 1000 people. (MDG 8).

In 2004 the poverty headcount ratio at $1 a day was 41% of population from 47% in 1990.

In South Africa 10.7% of the people live under $1 per day (PPP); 70.8% do so in Nigeria. (MDG 1, IDA 1)

In Sierra Leone 165 out of 1,000 children die before the age of one; in Seychelles the rate is 12 per 1,000. (MDG 4)

In Sierra Leone 282 children per 1,000 die before the age of five; in Seychelles, the rate is 13 per 1,000. (MDG 4, IDA 2)

Skilled personnel attend 5.7% of births in Ethiopia; they attend 99.2% of births in Mauritius. (MDG 5, IDA 4)

Liberia has three phone lines per 1,000 people (0.28); the Seychelles has 93 per 100 people. (MDG 8, IDA 8)

For more interesting facts (and for data sources) see http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/AFRICAEXT/0,,contentMDK:20563739~menuPK:1613741~pagePK:146736~piPK:146830~theSitePK:258644,00.html